15 Undocumented Firefox Tips

Though Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains the most popular browser, there's a reason why many techies--and many visitors to PCWorld.com--use Mozilla's Firefox browser: control. Firefox simply offers more ways to customize the browsing experience, letting you get more work done in less time. Here are our favorite productivity tweaks for Firefox 2.0. (Note: Click on any thumbnail image to see a full screen shot.)

Keep Tabs on Your Tabs

One of Firefox's most appreciated features is the browser's ability to display multiple pages that you view by clicking their tabs. But you don't have to click through menus to open a new tab; instead, just press Ctrl-T to view a blank page on a new tab, with the cursor in the address bar.

To have a link open in a new tab, either right-click the link and select Open Link in New Tab (see screen at left), or highlight it and click the mouse wheel.

Also, you can have links that would normally launch a new browser window open instead in a new tab: Select Tools, Options, click the Tabs icon, choose a new tab (as shown in the screen at right), and then click OK.

To move between tabs with the keyboard, press Ctrl-Tab to open the tab to the right, or Ctrl-Shift-Tab to go left. Or reorder your tabs by dragging them with your mouse. You can also download Firefox's FLST 0.8.6 extension, which lets you toggle between two tabs by pressing Ctrl-+.

To close all but one of your open tabs, right-click the one you want to keep open and select Close Other Tabs. If you accidentally close the wrong tab, press Ctrl-Shift-T to bring it back.